Research for Project

The following research reveals some themes I may choose for my final project:

Edie Nadelhaft

Edie Nadelhaft is a Manhattan-based contemporary artist known for her bold, visceral oil paintings and slick, technology-inspired sculpture. Her work has been widely exhibited throughout the US at galleries and art fairs including Texas Contemporary (Houston, TX 2013), CONTEXT art Miami (Miami, FL 2012), Woodward Gallery (NYC 2013) and Family Business (NYC 2012), and abroad in China, Taiwan and Basel, Switzerland. Upcoming exhibitions include Face-to-Face: Wall to Wall, at Yellowstone Art Museum (Billings, MT 2014) and Water, Water... Kianga Ellis Projects (NYC Fall 2013). Drawing inspiration from contemporary hyper-realism, 20th century abstraction, 1960’s minimalist sculpture and the industrial design trend known as "cuddle-tech", Nadelhaft’s deeply sensual works address the space between physical and psychological presence, a uniquely human experience firmly ensconced in the glossy sheen of an increasingly digital culture. 

“My work is an exploration of the physical world and the human experience, and the impact of digital culture on perception. I am interested in scale, color systems and the strange perspectives offered by (what has lately become ubiquitous) digital imaging technology.” –Edie Nadelhaft

Edie Nadelhaft skin photographs reveal the flaws and imperfection of the human body’s natural skin causes through digital photography. She tends to capture the disfigurement of the human hand whilst the red blood vessels burst through the hand to create an explosive effect. Her photographs depict the ‘color systems’ and ‘human experience’ of the human hand as she has a tendency to explore the physical world. Furthermore, Nadelhaft has captured a very close shot of the hands with intense detail of human hands form. The fleshly wrinkly effect is really effective as Nadelhaft has captured the flaws of the human body. Additionally, you can see the purple veins popping through the hands, hence why the skin has exploded into a pink/red colour whilst the Nadelhaft has created a deformed figure in the human form. The abnormality Nadelhaft has tried to create is really effective as she has used the flaws of the human body to capture the deformed perspective. This helps to establish the flaws and imperfections of the human body. The composition of these photographs is the depth of field as the detail is incredibly enhanced. The perspective has created has given people the thought of how deformed the human form can be as Nadelhaft has highlighted the imperfections of the human form through her manipulation. In addition, you can tell that these photographs have been edited on Photoshop as the intensity of the detail as increased, as well as the vibrance, saturation, contrast and clarity as Nadelhaft has tried to establish the tone and exposure of these photographs. The lighting is really effective in these photographs as they bring out the highlights and shadows. These photographs make me feel deformed and defeated as the human form cannot always be seen as a beautiful aspect to the physical world we live in.

Experimental Photographs:

This photograph is a inspired replication of Edie Nadelhaft photographs as she tends to capture the human skin and transform it into something repulsive. This photograph depicts a extreme close up of a human hand creased into a ball, I have zoomed into this photograph with the DSLR’s intense mega-pixels as the focus was really hard to capture. The intense zoom has managed the capture the depth of the human skin, the skin looks outdated and stale whilst its creased into a ball bringing out the deformed wrinkles. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the depth of field. The depth has managed to capture the detail of the human skin which is really effective. Moreover, the camera angle and position is well positioned as the perspective makes this photograph look repulsive and disgusting, however this sort of ugly beauty can be seen as a beauty in the banal. I have edited this photograph on Adobe Photoshop by using the HDR Toning to increase the radius, strength, exposure, gamma correction, detail, vibrance and saturation. These effects helps to establish the detail and tone in this photograph. The lighting in this photograph is really effective as it has captured the bright and dark shadow patches. This photograph makes me feel contaminated and outdated due to the intense detail which has captured the pumping purple veins bursting through the skin creating a abnormal effect. I have chosen this photograph as my final photograph for this brief because it is the most similar to Edie Nadelhaft’s photograph work, the photograph has managed to capture the ugly beauty in the human skin and develop it into something deformed and abnormal. I have chosen this concept as an idea for my final theme due to the flaws and imperfections highlighted in this concept, it brings out the human in us which is fascinating. 

Aaron Huey

Aaron Huey (born December 9, 1975) is an American photojournalist and documentary photographer who is most widely known for his walk across America in 2002 and his work on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He grew up in Worland, Wyoming, graduating from Worland High School. He received his BFA from the University of Denver, in Colorado in 1999. Aaron Huey’s photography is mainly based on the journey he went on across America which is irrelevant to my final brief. What is relevant is this digital photograph he has captured which has significantly inspired me to work on ‘photography through glasses’. This fascinating photograph has an intriguing effect to it as Aaron Huey has captured the main aspect of the photograph through the lens of a pair of glasses. The lens effect helps to establish the extreme perspective as the manipulation brings out the beauty of the physical world we live in. Moreover, the double image from the glasses gives this photograph an amazing effect as it brings out the strange aspects of photography. The lens effect helps to establish the perfection that contains within itself a living moment that allows a glimpse of time to be experienced and preserved endlessly. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the depth of field. Huey has captured the depth of the detail in the glasses whilst keeping the background blurry. The camera angle and position is really effective as it almost looks as if this is a point of view shot whilst the camera is slightly tilted. The angle brings out the clear blue sky which is really effective as Huey has captured the beautiful aspects of the world. This photograph makes me feel that there’s more than one eye in the world that is watching over us and also that there are many perspectives and visions which can be seen in this world that are unique and different. This photograph relates to the brief objective as Huey has comprised the idea of capturing the beautiful world through another perspective. 

Experimental Photographs:

Have you ever considered what life would be without photographs? Or how important and iconic photographs can be? “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”  American Photographer Aaron Siskind states that photography has many aspects to its fine arts reputation as it gives us a sense of being. Photography is our very own gratification that we can construct and modify to create a perspective and perceive it to the world. The power of photography defines the timing, morality and memory of the moment with one capture which will imprint into the human mind forever and I completely agree with him. This final photograph relate to the brief ‘Flaws, Imperfections, Ideals and Compromises’ due to the incentive of having to adjust to the compromises that occurs in this physical world we live in today. As technology has significantly enhanced in our generation, the ‘digital age’ has developed our imagination incredibly with more ideas bursting through people’s minds. The imagination in these photographs depict the different perspectives which can be viewed from a pair of glasses, from a point of view shot. My objective is to prevail the different perspectives and visions people have as everyone is unique in many different ways. The crystal, sharp, detail inside the lens of the glasses has a different vision from the blurry background which shows that there can be a mixture of perspectives which can combine and create something fascinating. The blurry background can be seen as a flaw or imperfection whilst the small detail of the glasses can be seen as a compromise. This sort of combination will be the perfect way to conclude my final photograph. The composition of this photography is the depth of field. The depth of field is really effective in this photograph as I have captured the detail of the glasses whilst the background is blurred. The camera angle and position is really efficient as I have captured a point of view shot to put the audience in my shoes. This perspective will help the audience to relate to the vision I see. I have edited this photograph on Adobe Photoshop by firstly, using the ‘Lasso’ tool to draw a circle around the glasses lens and insert the original photograph of the location into both glasses lens. Secondly, I have increased the brightness, contrast, exposure, gamma correction, vibrance and saturation on both layers to make the clear image stand out from the background. I wanted to explore the colour systems that Aaron Huey has done in his photography. These effects help to establish the detail and tone in this photography. The lighting in this photograph is really effective as the bright tone brings out the subject matter. This photograph makes me feel positive and insightful as the vision in this photograph helps me to focus on reaching my objectives. I have chosen this concept as an idea for my final theme due to the creativity and vision it portrays.

Inspirational Photographs

The following photographers are an inspiration and influence to the project I will be choosing as my final entry:

Irving Penn 

Irving Penn (June 16, 1917 – October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still life’s. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake, and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally, and continues to inform the art of photography. Best known for his fashion photography, Penn's repertoire also includes portraits of creative greats; ethnographic photographs from around the world; Modernist still lives of food, bones, bottles, metal, and found objects; and photographic travel essays. Penn was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a simple grey or white backdrop and he effectively used this simplicity. Penn's still life compositions are spare and highly organized, assemblages of food or objects that articulate the abstract interplay of line and volume. Penn's photographs are composed with a great attention to detail, which continues into his craft of developing and making prints of his photographs. Penn experimented with many printing techniques, including prints made on aluminium sheets coated with a platinum emulsion rendering the image with a warmth that untoned silver prints lacked. His black and white prints are notable for their deep contrast, giving them a clean, crisp look. Even if they appear at first more sterile and less romantic than Penn’s previous works, the cigarette series is as superbly chic in its simplicity and frankness. We see dark remnants of a beautiful world and little white relics of enjoyment, all at the same time.

This photograph depicts a close-up portrait image of two burnt, rotted cigarettes. I believe Irving Penn is trying to send a message to his viewers, explaining that ‘smoking kills’ as he captures the repulsive, decayed and burnt cigarettes which helps to establish the obnoxious side of cigarettes. The burnt tobacco at the top of the cigarette gives this photograph a sense of rottenness as the close-up captures the detail of how unpleasant a cigarette can look like. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the depth of field. Irving Penn has capture the depth of the cigarettes which helps to establish the detail and tone of the photograph. The black and white effect is really effective from Irving Penn as it reveals an outdated perspective. Furthermore, the lighting in this photograph is really effective as the bright patches tends to capture the main aspects of the photograph, as the black patches reveals the revolting side of this photograph. Nevertheless, although this photograph can be seen as a revolting image, it can reflect to the beautiful side as the ugly beauty Irving Penn has captured helps to contradict the perspective. For instance, cigarettes are often represented as a damaging cause, however it can also been viewed in a striking way due to the perspective Penn has captured. The beauty in the banal theme helps to establish that anything can be beautiful with a certain perspective, as they say ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’. 

This photograph is similar to the photograph above as it is part of Irving Penn’s cigarette photograph series. Irving Penn has captured a shot of used, burnt and outdated cigarettes as it reveals the disgusting side of cigarettes. However, this sort of trash can be seen as ugly beauty, these burnt cigarettes help to establish the brief beauty in the banal. It is pretty satisfying that Penn has gathered a group of used cigarettes and has created a perspective which reveals the beautiful side of this photograph. The gold, crispy effect on the cigarettes gives this photograph a sense of saturation and burning which is really effective. Additionally, the misplaced trash reveals the portrait image Penn has captured as his composition is really effective. The composition of this photograph is the rules of third. The camera angle and position is well positioned as the shot is central and high. The lighting in this photograph is really bright as it helps to establish the tone and detail. This photograph make me feel that trash can be an advantage in life as we can recycle, create or use it for something important. 

Experimental Photograph: 

Alina Szapocznikow

Alina Szapocznikow was a polish sculptor who was known for her famous chewing gum photographs. The Polish artist Alina Szapocznikow (1926-73) coined the term photo sculpture in 1971 to describe her remarkable series of black and white photographs featuring chewing gum forms. These unique images consist of close-ups of blobs of chewing gum attached to concrete or wooden supports, which have been manipulated into curious shapes in the artist’s mouth. This famous technique by Szapocznikow helped to establish the creativity which can be created with a piece of trash. The long-lasting gum is dangling off the edge of the table as the end part drips and dangles down till it falls. This sort of form helps to manipulate shapes and styles of gum. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the rules of third. The camera angle and position is well positioned as Szapocznikow has captured a central, high angle to create a perspective for her viewers. Additionally, the lighting in this photograph is really dim, however it helps to establish the darkness of the tone and detail. The effective black and white effect gives this photograph an outdated, dry sense as it depicts the time period in which Szapocznikow has captured this photograph. My initial thoughts of this photograph is that the subject content is too dark as the shadows and highlights help the lighting stand out. My reaction and feelings towards this photograph is that trash can be creative aspect in art.

This photograph is similar to the photograph above as it portrays another manipulated chewing gum form from Alina Szapocznikow. Szapocznikow has captured this photograph by placing a used chewing gum onto the edge of a brick. The deformed chewing gum is shaped into a hedge with the edges of the gum dangling down on the brink of falling. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the rules of third. Furthermore, the camera angle and position is well positioned as Szapocznikow has captured a perspective for her viewers. The lighting is really bright as it helps to establish the tone and detail. The black and white effect is really effective as the brightness is established onto the gum and brick whilst the background is really dark and non-existent. This photograph makes me feel distorted as Szapocznikow has manipulated her viewers to see a perspective which makes them feel deformed.

Experimental Photograph:

John Vink

John Vink’s Photographs of life in Cambodia draw the viewer into the world that he has inhabited, creating an intimacy with his subjects as they struggle to survive, evicted into barren areas often without water or sanitation, and from which they are sometimes evicted again by people who covet the land. The photographs are intended to capture the harsh reality of life in Cambodia but in doing so Vink produces beautiful, captivating images. This photograph captured by John Vink depicts the harsh reality of the state and poverty Cambodia can produce. Vink has taken advantage of this issue by producing a captivating image of trash in its most creative form. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the leading lines effect. In addition, the leading lines effect helps to establish the constant trash piling on top of each other as they steadily decline down the captivating stairways. Moreover, the camera angle and position is well positioned as Vink has captured a high angle to capture the depth in each the stairs gradually goes onto. As you can see, the top of the stairways is piled with trash and as it gradually goes down the stairways, the trash tends to decrease, this could be a signifier of the harsh reality in Cambodia. The black and white effect is really effective as it gives the atmosphere and the mood a dull, outdated sense which relates to the conditions in Cambodia. The lighting in this photograph is spot on as it is really bright which helps to establish the tone and detail. Although this photograph portrays the sad conditions in Cambodia, Vink has captured the ugly beauty by using creativity to embrace the beauty in the banal. My feelings towards this photograph is that the harsh reality is devastating as Vink struggled to survive in these conditions.

This photograph is another harsh reality of the conditions in Cambodia as Vink has found the answer to embrace this state by capturing the ugly beauty of Cambodia. It depicts a man doing his daily duties whilst the mirror reflects his actions. The state of Cambodia in the background tells you how hard it is to survive as Vink struggled to survive. However, people in Cambodia have learnt to be appreciative and grateful for what they have as they embrace the struggle. The composition of this photograph is really effective as it portrays the rules of third. Additionally, the camera angle and position is well-positioned as Vink has captured an astonishing shot of the person working through a reflection. This reveals the beauty that trash can produce as Vink has captured a perspective for his viewers. The black and white effect is really effective as it gives this photograph a poor, poverty sense whilst the time period depicts the conditions people had to live in. The lighting is really bright as it helps to establish the tone and detail. This photograph makes me feel sad but grateful for what I have as people had to live through these conditions.

Depth of Field & Shutter Speed - Experimental Photographs

Experimental Photographs

The task was to shoot a series of compositional exercises and explore the depth of field and shutter speed in the context of a rural environment. These photographs consists of many compositions such as the Golden Ratio, Rules of Third, Leading Lines and Depth of Field. 

These series of compositional photographs involve many photographs which are poor quality, however i have included these photographs to reveal that in hindsight, I would certainly improve the framing, aperture and especially the purpose of taking the photograph. Working with these compositions and shutter speeds will help me to establish what type of project I will delve into. 

The field trip made me realise that we don't appreciate nature enough and that technology has taken our life away from reality. We are trapped in a hyperreality realm were we are consumed by social media and are so intrigued in constructing our fake identities that we actually forget to take a minute and 'look' at what reality looks like. We forget to observe and enjoy our surroundings, our creativity and vision is being blighted by technology.  

Edited Photographs

All these photographs have been edited on Adobe Photoshop. In this particular photograph, I have simply inverted the photograph to a grayscale effect whilst increasing the exposure, decreasing the gamma correction and increasing the offset. Furthermore, whilst using the Curves, I have darken the contrast to give this photograph a gloomy, mystery atmosphere, as well as increasing the brightness and contrast slightly.

 I have edited this photograph by increasing the exposure and offset whilst decreasing the gamma correction. Moreover, I also decreased the brightness and increased the contrast to create a kaleidoscopic effect in this photograph. The reflection in the water helps to establish the golden ratio composition in this photograph which is really effective.

This photograph was edited by simply adding a burst of exposure, gamma correction and offset. In addition, i also increased the brightness and contrast to bring out the texture and detail in this photograph. The shadows and highlights have been increased which compliments the contrast of the photograph. 

 Firstly, I edited this photograph by changing the effect to grayscale. Using the depth of field to my advantage, I used the HDR Toning to increase the exposure and offset whilst decreasing the gamma correction. Moreover, I decided to add blur to this photograph to create a myopia, blind effect so I decreased the detail as well as increasing the shadows and highlights.  

This effect complimented the vision behind this photograph significantly due to the mystery, gloomy essence it depicts. I changed the effect to grayscale, knowing that black and white works well with graveyard settings. Furthermore, I decreased the exposure and offset whilst increasing the gamma correction. I also decreasing the brightness and increased the contrast to create a dark atmosphere

After reading Stuart Hall's "The Spectacle of Others" (1997) I decided to reflect upon his ideology about positive and negative images and replicate a photograph by David A. Bailey which was displayed in this reading. I edited this photograph by inverting the threshold and developing the level to 128%. This photograph reminds me of developing photographs in darkrooms. 

Stuart Hall's "The Spectacle of Others" (1997) summarises the debate about equality and difference in race and ethnicity. In his positive and negative image chapter, Hall states: 

"the attempt to substitute a range of 'positive' images of black people, black life and culture for the 'negative' imagery which continues to dominate popular representation. This approach has the advantage of righting the balance. It is underpinned by an acceptance - indeed, a celebration - of difference. It inverts the binary opposition, privileging the subordinate term, sometimes reading the negative positively: 'Black is Beautiful'. It tries to construct a positive identification with what has been objected."

Although Hall's ideologies doesn't link to the task, I have decided to interconnect my photographs into his ideologies, such as the inverted black and white photograph above. In terms of photography whilst excluding race, I believe Hall is trying to interpret that everyone see's the colour 'white' as the first option or being the light that everyone goes to, however, the colour black can also be seen as a positive colour. It may objectify dark, negative energy but it gives a sense of life which can be constructed into something beautiful. In relation to my photographs, I believe that sometimes you need darkness to find the right balance, rather than having everything white and positive. There would be no reality or truth if there wasn't darkness in our life.  

 Alan Sailer

Alan Sailer is a high speed photography who uses fast shutter speed as a technique to capture objects breaking instantly. This use of fast shutter speed is really effective as he is able to capture the instant effect a breaking object has which is fascinating. This could be an interesting idea for my project.